Rev. Dr. George B. Moody, Interim Pastor
Text: Acts 11: 1-18, 21
Week of Sunday, May 19, 2019
Message Highlights
Pastor Moody’s sermon tells the story of God revealing to Cornelius, a Gentile, and Peter, a Jew, both faithful, praying men, his plan to remove barriers that separated Jews and Gentiles.
God spoke to Cornelius by sending an angel to reveal God’s instructions to him, which were for Cornelius to send for a man named Peter, a Jew. Cornelius accepted God’s instructions and sent his men to Joppa to bring Peter to him.
At the same time, God communicated with Peter. He sent a message to him in a dream to prepare him for his meeting with the Gentile. God told Peter to “kill and eat.” Peter told God that he was faithful to his religion and had never eaten any-thing that the Jewish law said was unclean. God wanted to change the prejudices that Peter had in his heart. He told Peter, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” The Holy Spirit taught Peter that it is sin that makes a person unclean. The laws about being ‘unclean’ and ‘clean’ were not to allow his people to think they were better than the Gentiles. Peter grew to accept the Christian, Cornelius, as a brother because the Holy Spirit had touched his heart.
We, too, serve a God who is ready to serve us and empower us. We just have to step out on faith and believe in Christ. When we pray each day and spend time in the Bible, God gives us instructions on how to live our lives to please Him. He has plenty of miracles stored away for us. If we give our soul to God, we receive way beyond what we have believed!
And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number of them believed, and turned unto the Lord.
Acts 11: 21(KJV)